Of Gods and Men
by Victoria18Carlton
Summary: Gods rarely take an interest in any mortal. But, of course, there is always an exception. (Loki/OC) (Kind of an AU - set after 'The Avengers', might include 'The Dark World' in much later chapters)
1. Prologue

_Author's note: I haven't given up on or abandoned 'Part of the Disease', I just have really bad writer's block and this idea was floating around in my head, so I thought I'd get it down before I forget it! Enjoy!_

* * *

There are people closing in on us. There must be. You cannot break into the White House and confront the President without somebody noticing. Even if you have done it using magic. The fear must be showing in my expression because the man standing next to me suddenly takes my hand. He moves and is now in front of me, his tall frame obscuring my view of the room's only other occupant, who is currently retrieving something from a safe. What we came here for. Loki takes my face in his hands, slowly tilting my head up. I look up into his eyes and everything feels right, perfect, complete. Of course, in reality, things are very different, but for this one flawless moment, I can forget that. His hands snake into my hair, holding my head still so that our eyes remain locked. He bends forward and presses his lips to mine, very gently, and only a second or two passes before he has pulled away again. "Everything will be alright," Loki whispers, and any fear I felt before washes away with those simple words. He has that effect on me. Then he swiftly turns back to the other man, the President and barks, "Have you found it yet?"  
The President is clearly terrified but, to his credit, he does his best not to show it. "Maybe I have, but give me one good reason why I should give it to you."  
Loki laughs, but there is a hint of malice to the sound, "I have given you one, it belongs to me."  
"And what will you do with it?" the President continues. "You have shown your talent for manipulating matter - "  
"It is acceptable to just call it magic," Loki interrupts.  
"How do I know that you won't use whatever's in this book to rain down more destruction on us?"  
"I have far better things to do with my time and my talents," replies Loki, still calm, but I can sense a rage building inside him. "Now, give it to me."  
The President picks up the black leather bound book from the safe and clutches it to his chest. "No."  
Something inside Loki snaps and he bellows, "Give it to me!" before he lunges towards the man.  
I don't even think about what I'm doing and I yell, "No, Loki, stop!" He is just about to strike but he pauses, swivels and looks at me.  
"I need that book," he says softly, pain in his eyes as well as his voice.  
"I know, but you can't hurt him," I plead. "You promised me that you did not come here to hurt anyone, you said it was beneath you."

There is a long pause, during which nobody speaks. I don't know what Loki is thinking, but he hasn't stepped away from the President yet. "Please," I whisper, and this seems to get through to him.  
His eyes meet mine again and he says, "Of course, I'm sorry. I forgot myself." Both I and the President sigh in relief, and Loki appears to move back, when I suddenly feel a horrible pain in my stomach. I gasp sharply, pressing my hands to where the pain is. When I pull them away and look down at them, I see that they are covered in blood. I don't really register anything, but I am vaguely aware of somebody shouting my name. Then another bullet flies through my shoulder, the force of it knocking me to the ground.


	2. Chapter 1

**_One year before_**

I hate Fridays. I know that normally people say that they hate Mondays, but believe me, Mondays are a breeze. Mondays mean a quiet, stress-free day where I only have to take a few phone calls, arrange one or two meetings, maybe have a quick chat with my boss about the week ahead, but nothing more than that. Fridays, on the other hand, were specifically created by Satan himself to ruin my life. At least, that's what I think. Friday is client day, and that means that I have to run around the office (literally) directing dozens of different people to different offices and different salesmen who will try to convince them to buy something stupid that they don't need. Like a second house. Or a football team. On top of that, I have to co-ordinate the junior salesmen and women, make sure the customers are happy, sort out payment plans for the things that they buy and, on really bad days, I have to try and convince someone that what they are buying is the best product ever, and not completely useless. Me. Me, who is the worst liar in the universe. When I tell a lie, my ears go red and I blink a lot, I have no idea why, it just happens. So, all of these factors combine to make the phenomena known as 'The Friday From Hell'.

Today is Friday. Friday the 16th of November, 2012 to be exact. And it is no exception. Currently I am running up the stairs to the fifth floor, trying to stop my imbecile of a co-worker from selling a swimming pool to a man who is allergic to chlorine (it's a long story, don't ask). I am just about to reach the door when I hear someone call my name. "Victoria?" It's Alan, my boss, standing on the flight of stairs above me.  
I try to catch my breath. "Yes, Alan?"  
"Can I have a word?"  
"Now's not really a good time," I reply, but I know what his response will be.  
"Someone else will deal with the swimming pool. Besides, this won't take long." You never say no to Alan. So I turn away from the door and continue up the stairs, secretly celebrating the fact that I don't have to handle the sale. I follow Alan into his ginormous office on the seventh floor. The size of the room is emphasised by the fact that, besides from a desk, a water cooler and two uncomfortable-looking armchairs, there is no furniture in it. The walls are white, the ceiling is white, the floor is white. The left wall is one long window, giving a rather dismal view of Birmingham city centre. Rain spatters the window. The rest of the world probably think that we exaggerate how often it rains in England, but we don't. Not really. Maybe a little bit. My focus is snapped back into the office by Alan saying, "Would you like something to drink?" He gestures towards the water cooler.  
"No thanks, I only drink gin." He looks at me, a mixture of puzzlement and horror on his face. "I'm joking," I say. He smiles, but he doesn't look convinced.  
"Please, have a seat." I sit in one of the armchairs in front of the desk. It's just as uncomfortable as it looked. Alan settles himself behind the desk, folds his arms, and looks at me. Neither of us speak for a good few minutes. It's very unnerving. When Alan finally does say something it makes me jump. "Victoria, how old are you?"  
The question takes me by surprise, surely he should know that? "I'm twenty five, sir," I respond. The sir slips out by accident, but Alan intimidates me, and I always feel like he likes to be called 'sir'.  
"May I ask, what are you doing here?" he continues.  
Another question that surprises me. "I work here," I say. It's the only answer I can think of.  
"No, I mean, why are you working here?"

I can't think of anything to say. The truth is that I'm working here because my mum used to be the CEO. Then she decided that she wanted to travel the globe with my dad so she sold the company, and me with it. I finished university with a degree in acting, but after more than three years of studying it I decided I wanted a break. Theatrical people are great but they can be a bit overwhelming. But with the economy the way it is and such a high unemployment rate, the best job I could find on my own was a lollipop lady, and I don't get on with kids very well. So, I had to suck it up and ask mum for a job. It was supposed to be a temporary thing, but I guess I got stuck in a routine. A very crap routine. But I don't want to tell all of this to Alan (even though he knows that mum gave me my job) so I just say, "I don't really know."  
Alan nods. "I thought as much." There is another silence. This one is even longer and more awkward than the last. "Victoria, I think you should quit." What? That came out of nowhere!  
"Wait, are you sacking me?!"  
"No, no, no, no, no!" He cries. "No, if you don't want to leave you don't have to. You do an excellent job around here. It's just, some of your co-workers have complained about, well, about you complaining. Everyone knows how much you hate it here and we all feel that you would better off doing something that you enjoy. And we also feel that this job would be better suited to someone who enjoys doing it." A final pause.

I am not one for getting angry. I like to stay calm, controlled. But sometimes, if I am really pissed off, I lose my control. And it isn't pretty. "So, what you're basically saying," I fight to keep my voice from screaming, "Is that everyone here hates me and wants me to leave." Alan doesn't say anything. "I'll take that as a yes, then. So I shall leave." I march over to the door and wrench it open, dignity intact. "You can take your job and shove it up your hairy little - " The door closes before I have chance to finish the sentence with a more prolific word for 'backside'.

* * *

_The first stage of his plan is complete. He didn't want to upset her, but without disgracing her name, this was the easiest way to take her away from her employment. A single thought slipped into the mind of Alan Tyler and she was gone. On her own terms. She was angry now, but the anger and fury would pass. And, soon enough, he would find her, reveal himself to her, the woman he had watched for so long, waited for for so long, and they would be together. But, for now, he would continue to wait, the timing must be perfect._


	3. Chapter 2

I slam into my flat, the door flying shut behind me. It closes with a loud bang, terrifying my flatmate, Rachel. "Oh my God!" she cries, "Why are you back here so early?" Then she sees my face. "You look awful, what happened? Are you okay?"  
I sigh before answering. "No, I'm not. Not really." I fling myself onto our old sofa. Almost everything in this flat is second hand. Either that or someone else bought it for us. "The nub and the jist of what happened is that I no longer have a job."  
"What did you do?" gasps Rachel, sinking to the floor and sitting cross-legged in front of me. Rachel has an issue with sitting on chairs.  
"Nothing," I reply, which is true. "Alan called me into his office, told me that everyone wanted me to leave, I got angry, and I left."  
Rachel's mouth falls open. "Just like that?" You just quit?" I nod. She's silent for a while, but then she pipes up again. "Don't you think that that's a little off?"  
"I think it's bloody outrageous!"  
"No. Well, yeah, it is, but I mean don't you think it's a bit weird that Alan said that to you? There must be some kind of rule or regulation against saying things like that to employees. Just because everyone hates you doesn't mean that you should have to leave."

"Thanks very much," I say in regard to her comment about everyone hating me, but I think about what she has said. "I suppose there probably is."  
Rachel gets excited by this. "You should march back over there and threaten to sue the pants off of him. Or, better yet, you should actually sue the pants off of him!"  
I shake my head. "There's no point. I don't want the job back. This gives me a good reason to start doing something fun with my life."  
"Then why are you so upset?" Rachel asks. It's a fair question.  
"It's just not very nice to find out that none of the people that you've worked with for four years like you. I mean, I know I always complained a lot, but I never thought that they all hated me. I don't really understand it, to be honest; none of them ever acted like they disliked me."  
"That's because you're the loveliest, most wonderful person I know!" Rachel replies, leaning up from the floor and throwing her arms around me.  
"Don't be so soppy," I reprimand, but I return the hug. I love Rachel, but she can sometimes be a bit full on. We've been friends since year five, when she joined my primary school. The teacher sat her next to me because I didn't really have any friends, and she latched on to me immediately, and hasn't really let go since, which is nice, if a little irritating at times.

"Well," Rachel says when she's finished hugging me, "I hate to leave you, but I have to go to work." Rachel is a beautician, she specialises in something called 'nail therapy' – which just sounds like manicures to me, but she insists that it's a legitimate form of therapy. She rustles around the living room, looking for her phone.  
"Have you tried the cutlery drawer?" I ask her, knowing that she'll have abandoned it somewhere strange earlier today.  
"Found it!" Rachel grabs her bag and moves to the door. "Don't stress about what happened earlier," she says as she opens the door. "I'm sure that there's a perfectly reasonable explanation." I smile in thanks, but I don't say anything. When she's gone I switch on the television, but it's all boring and repetitive. Somebody wants to sell something that they've found in their attic, someone else tells Jeremy Kyle about their affair, Iggle Piggle bounces around the screen, and after about ten minutes I decide I can't stand it any more, so I turn it off. I try reading a book, but I can't concentrate on the words. I don't want to listen to any music, it will just annoy me even more. So I just go and stand by the window, staring at the plain pavement outside the ground floor flat, watching the rain bounce off of the slabs.

* * *

_He is still watching her, apologetic for the pain that he is putting her through. But it is all a means to an end, and she will understand soon. She will understand why he had to do it this way, why he is so afraid of her. He remembers perfectly the moment in which he first saw her, even though she may have forgotten it. It was after the battle for New York. He stood in Central Park, surrounded by the agents of SHIELD that called themselves 'The Avengers'. His brother stood beside him. His hands were cuffed and his mouth was gagged. As his brother prepared the Tesseract he looked around the park, not wanting his last glimpse of freedom to be obscured by the SHIELD agents. His eyes flickered over the trees, and that was where he saw her. Leaning against a tree with a book in her hands, she was so completely engrossed in it that she did not appear to have noticed the strange events that were happening before her. She lifted a hand to brush a strand of her brown hair away from her face, but she did not take her eyes from the book. He instantly found her interesting. Someone who could happily block out the world, simply by burying themselves in a book. He identified with her. He took hold of the Tesseract, held out to him by his brother, but he never took his eyes off of the girl. She did not look oup until she heard the sound of the Tesseract taking him away._

* * *

I am bored. It has been an hour since Rachel left for work and I haven't done anything but stare out of the window. I move back over to the sofa and flop down on it. Something jabs into by side and I put my hand into my pocket. It's my phone. I pull it out, I have nothing better to do. I am still bothered by what Alan said to me. Unlocking my phone, I proceed to flick through the pictures saved on it. After about five minutes of photos of Rachel and me, a few family gathering snaps, some more pictures of Rachel (she likes to steal my phone) I come to the few photos from my last holiday. In May I went by myself to New York, wanting a fairly peaceful break from work where I could explore a new city, treat myself to one or two Broadway shows and not have to worry about anything. Of course, that plan was completely and utterly buggered by the massive army from another world that invaded and chose New York City as their battleground. Luckily I was staying in Queens and therefore managed to avoid the major battle sites, but all the airports were closed and I couldn't leave America for almost a week after the battle had finished. We were told that it was safe to go back into the main city after two days, but there was very little that I could do. There was a lot of damage. So I did the only thing that I could think of: I picked up a book and headed to Central Park. Sitting in the sun under a tree I read for about two hours before I heard a really weird noise. It sounded like a piece of metal scraping against another piece of metal. I looked up from my book to see a bright blue flash, with the silhouettes of two people barely visable. When the flash disappeared there was no sign of anyone having been stood there. I looked at the other people surrounding the site and recognised several of them as being part of 'The Avengers'. The sight of them was enough to make me want to leave. I managed to get a flight back home two days later. It was easily the least successful holiday that I have ever had.

Looking through the photos on my phone occupies me for a minute or two, but it isn't long before I'm bored again. I decide to ring my mother. I wasn't going to bother her with the news of my sudden lack of employment, but she'll find out about it sooner or later, and it's better that she hears it from me. It's fair to say that me and my mother don't have the best relationship. We love each other, but we've never really seen eye to eye on anything. In fact, I'm still annoyed that she pretty much abandoned me along with all of her other responsibilities to travel the globe. I don't even know which continent she is in now. Maybe I won't phone her, we'll only end up arguing anyway. I throw my phone to the floor, not really caring where it lands. I start thinking about what happened this morning again. I'm suddenly hit by a panic as I realise that I currently have no way of supporting myself. How will I pay rent? How will I buy food? How will I buy books? A dozen different panics circle around me and I suddenly feel very sick. I try to suit up, but my head feels too heavy for my neck, so I roll off of the sofa quickly and begin to crawl towards the bathroom. I never make it, the floor seems to move towards me very quickly.

When I wake up I am lying on my back, looking at a circle of people around me. What? There wasn't anybody in my flat, how did these people get in? It takes me a moment to realise that I'm not in my flat. I'm outside. From the corner of my eye I spot an American flag. It's hanging from the Empire States Building. I am in New York.


	4. Chapter 3

**_Finally some real Loki-ness! Enjoy, and any and all reviews are really appreciated! :)_**

"Are you alright, miss?" one of the people standing above me asks. It's a man, he looks about the same age as me. He has shoulder length black hair and very green eyes, under different circumstances I might consider him quite attractive. I sit up slowly and he kneels down to my level. "Woah, careful, don't move too quickly," he says. "It's alright, you're safe, I'm a doctor. My name is Robert." He has a strong American accent, which makes sense, considering I'm suddenly in America.  
"How the hell did I get here?" I ask, all of a sudden I'm terrified, I have no idea what's going on. "I was at home, and now I'm here, and I can't remember what happened."  
"Calm down, you're going to be okay," Robert says, his hand on my shoulder to steady me. "Do you suffer from sleepwalking? Is it possible that you could have walked here from your home without knowing it?"  
"Not unless I can walk across the Atlantic Ocean!" I cry, the panic rising in my voice.  
Somebody else joins the conversation. "She didn't walk here, I saw her. She just appeared, out of thin air."  
"That's impossible," pipes up another person. "She can't have just appeared from nowhere."  
"Stop talking, you're scaring her," says Robert. "I need to check you over, we've called an ambulance but it might not be here for a while, New York traffic and all."  
I hesitate, but he seems genuinely concerned about me, so I say, "Alright." He reaches out his hand to help me stand up, and I take it. He gently pulls me upright, but when I look up to thank him, he's not standing in front of me.

Another man has replaced him. He has similar hair and eyes, but he's taller and broader, with a different facial structure. A quick glance at my surroundings tells me that I'm back in my apartment. I feel very dizzy again, and before I can stop myself I feel myself falling. Not for long though, as I feel a pair of strong arms catch me and lift me. It's the new man, and he carries me to the sofa and lays me on it, sliding his arms out from underneath me. "I'm sorry," he says softly. "You got away from me there - moving between realms using only magic can sometimes be tricky." I have absolutely no idea what he is talking about, but I'm scared and my head is throbbing too much to think about it, so I just lie on the sofa and groan. "Are you alright, my dear?" the man asks, genuine concern showing on his face.  
I manage to stutter out, "My head hurts."  
"The pain will pass very soon, I promise you. I do apologise for causing that, I assure that it was a mistake." He is very well spoken, and it's difficult not to become fascinated by his voice. But I am still terrified.  
"Who are you?" I stammer. "What do you want from me?"  
He smiles down at me, and this actually relaxes me a little. "I am a little surprised that you do not remember me," he chuckles, "I am Loki, of Asgard."  
For a moment or two I am still confused. Then comprehension slowly dawns on me. "Loki? Wait, you're not the guy who attacked New York City, are you?" All of the fear has suddenly flooded back into me.  
"Yes," he doesn't seem fazed by the terror in my voice. "You were there, were you not?"  
"How do you know that?" I want to run, to call the police, to get out of the flat, but my head hurts too much to even sit up. I keep completely still on the sofa, my wide eyes never leaving Loki's face. I don't want to do anything that will put me in even more danger from him, although he hasn't shown any signs of aggression. If anything, he's being quite nice to me.

He answers my question in the same calm, eloquent manner. "I saw you. You were sat underneath a tree in the park when I was taken back to Asgard. You were reading."  
"The blue flash…" I say, more to myself than to him. He nods, but I'm still confused. "But why were you looking at me?" I ask. "You had far bigger and more important things to worry about than a tourist who was engrossed in a book."  
"But it was because you were so engrossed in a book that I noticed you." His answer is instantaneous. "You did not let anything disrupt you, despite what was happening around you. I find that admirable."  
I don't know how to respond to this, so I ask another pressing question. "What are you doing here?"  
Loki is still smiling, but there is no menace in his smile. "Please do not be frightened of me. You have no cause to be. I am sorry to simply appear to you unexpectedly but I could not wait any longer; I had to see you properly, to talk to you."  
"What do you mean by 'see me properly'? Why 'properly'?" I'm suspicious as well as scared now.  
"I must admit that I have been keeping an eye on you," he says, looking slightly guilty.  
This really alarms me. "What? So you've basically been stalking me?!"  
"No!" he cries, "No, no, no. I have not, I promise. I have merely been making sure that you were safe and well. I have maybe influenced one or two events around you, but they have always been in your best interests."

My brain suddenly puts two and two together. "Hang on a minute. You didn't have anything to do with me being made to leave my job, did you?"  
Loki nods sheepishly. "Were you not saying earlier that you are now able to do something meaningful with your life?"  
I raise my eyebrows at him. "Am I really supposed to believe that this is all for my benefit? If it wasn't for you transporting me to another continent I wouldn't even believe you were Loki!"  
Loki now kneels beside me, taking one of my hands in his. I don't pull away in case I anger him, but also because something very strange happens when he touches my bare skin. It sounds very cliché but it feels like a small spark when our hands touch. Like electricity. "Please," he says quietly, softly. "I only wish to help you. I beg of you to believe me." He doesn't strike me as the type of man who would usually beg for anything. I can't help but believe him. I know that he's supposed the God of Lies or Mischief or something along those lines, but I still believe him. And I'm not really sure why.

"But why are you doing this for me?" I press. All I want is an explanation. "I'm nobody."  
His hand grips mine tighter. "You are not nobody," he says, "And I cannot stop thinking about you. I cannot rationalise it, but it is true. Watching over you has been my only escape from a small cell in a deep dungeon."  
"If you were in a cell how can you be here now?" His expression shows that this is not what he expected me to take from that.  
"I am afraid that it is rather a long story, and one for another time, I think," he responds, his smile wavering only slightly.  
"I'm sure we have time."  
He stands up abruptly. "Alas, unfortunately we do not." I sit up carefully. My head still hurts but it is throbbing less at least. "Regrettably I am forced to leave you, or else my absence may be discovered. However," he kneels down in front of me again, taking both of my hands this time, "I would love to have the privilege of seeing you again, with your permission, of course." Yet again I am thrown. From what I know of him this man is practically a god, so why is he interested in me? It can't just be because I was reading, can it? "Do I have your permission to see you again?"  
I blink a few times, unsure of what to say, but I find the words, "Ummm… Okay. Sure," coming out of my mouth.  
Loki smiles broadly at my response. "I am very glad. Until next time, my dear." And with that he kisses my hand, which makes me blush, and rises. I watch him as he stands and bows his head slightly towards me, and without another word he disappears before my eyes.


	5. Chapter 4

I don't think that I have ever been this confused in my life. It could all have been some sort of hallucination, I suppose, but nothing like that has ever happened to me before. I dismiss that theory; I don't want to convince myself that I'm going mad. Still, I decide not to tell anyone, it would sound too ridiculous. I don't know what I am going to do though. I actually told him that he could come back! The thought of that happening frightens me, yet I can't deny that I'm a little pleased as well. A small part of me is secretly excited by the prospect of seeing Loki again. I'm a bit ashamed of myself. For now, however, I'm not sure what to do with myself. My head doesn't hurt anymore, thank God. I'm pretty sure that I'm still in a state of shock. Maybe I should go to the hospital? But there isn't actually anything wrong with me. I try to make sense of what Loki said to me: "I could not wait any longer. I had to see you." Isn't that what he'd said? I know it sounds a little deluded, but it almost sounded like he was interested in me. I mean interested interested. "No, that's insane," I tell myself out loud. The sound of my own voice breaking the breaking the silence startles me. I force myself to stand up and get off of the sofa. I walk over to the kitchen to get a glass of water. I've drunk half of it when the front door crashes open and Rachel bounds through it. The bang is so loud that it scares the living daylights out of me and I drop the glass. "Shit!" I exclaim as it smashes against the laminate floor. I kneel down and begin to clean up the broken glass.

"What are you doing here?!" I demand of Rachel.  
"Uh, I live here," she replies, sounding a little hurt at my tone.  
I roll my eyes. "I mean what are you doing here and not at work?"  
She blinks a few times, clearly confused. "I've finished work. It's five thirty. Why would I still be at work?"  
I look up at her from my position on the floor. "It's not five thirty," I say, "It's like, midday, isn't it?"  
"No, it's five thirty." I turn my head to look at the smiley-face wall clock next to the window. Sure enough, the big hand points to six, and the little one to five.  
"But it can't be…" I say slowly. I'm completely bewildered.  
Rachel eyes me, concerned. "I'm going to go and put my pyjamas on. If you're still in a state of denial about the time of day, we'll talk afterwards." She leaves the room, and I continue to clean up the smashed glass while pondering the new information. I've lost over five hours of the day. It was definitely midday when I was watching television, just before I ended up in New York. What happened to all the time? I was only in New York for a few minutes, and Loki couldn't have been here long.

My wandering mind is abruptly brought back to Earth when a piece of glass that I had been holding cuts into my hand. "Ow!" Oh brilliant, now I'm bleeding. I grab a wad of kitchen towel and clutch it in my fist, hoping it will stop the blood flow without me having to go to A and E. I'm really not in the mood to wait around in the waiting room for several hours. Rachel comes back in, her uniform changed to her pink shorts and T-shirt.  
"Still confused about the time?" she asks as she rootles around in the cupboard for something to eat.  
I shake my head. "I must have fallen asleep or something. I clearly never noticed the time slip away."  
Rachel notices the paper towel in my hand. "What's wrong? Did you cut yourself?"  
"Yeah, but it's fine, it'll stop bleeding in a bit."  
"Why didn't you use the dustpan and brush to clear up the glass?" Rachel asks as she proceeds to do just this. I stand up and let her work, deciding to run my hand under the cold tap. This hurts for a second, but then the pain passes, and I look at my hand. The cut is gone! I study my hand, turning it over, but there's no cut, no bruise, nothing. Maybe it was just a really small cut that the water helped to close. I don't even know if this is possible but I can't be bothered to come up with another explanation.  
But then the area where the cut was glows green for a second, and I whisper, "Loki," under my breath, so that Rachel can't hear.  
Rachel deposits the last of the glass in the bin. "I can't believe you tried to clear it up with your hands. The dustpan and brush were under the sink, where they always are, why didn't you use them?"  
"I just didn't think of it," I reply, still looking at my hand.

Rachel crosses over to me. "Are you okay?" she asks. "You look really pale, and really weird. Is it the cut?"  
"No, it's nothing, you can hardly see it." She eyes me suspiciously, but she drops it.  
"What do you want to do tonight?" she says as she goes back to finding some food. "I think there's a 'Disney Princess' movie marathon on tonight, someone at work mentioned it."  
"As tempting as that is," I say, and I'm not lying, that really does sound tempting, "I think I should go to bed." My headache has come back.  
"Victoria, it's not even six o'clock yet."  
"I know, but I just feel really tired." Before she can answer back I've left the kitchen and made my way down the hall to my bedroom. I walk in and collapse on my bed, the green duvet covering me as I snuggle into it. I can't be bothered to change my clothes so I simply kick of my shoes and wiggle out of my skirt before I curl up into a ball to go to sleep. But I don't go to sleep. After trying for about fifteen minutes I turn over and lie on my back, looking at the ceiling. My mind is racing; it's been a very strange day. Despite all the other weird things that have happened to me today I'm suddenly reminded of the fact that I no longer have a job. Great. I am now unemployed. I consider my options.  
I could ask my parents for some money to help me out while I look for a new job.  
I could go back to see Alan tomorrow, apologise and ask for my old job back.  
I could claim benefits.  
I could start searching for a new job immediately.  
I could actually use my degree and start trying to act professionally.  
I don't want to grovel to anyone, especially Alan or my parents, so those two options are out. Besides, I don't want my old job back anyway. If I start claiming benefits I might never get off of them. The acting world is so difficult to get into and I might never make it, what will I do for money? That path will inevitably bring me back to living off of my parents, so that strategy also flies out of the window, for now at least. My parents and I get on well enough, but I still resent them a little for never letting me meet my birth parents. Oh, did I not mention that I'm adopted? I've lived with Haden and Grace (dad and mum) since I was a baby, I've never known any other parents, but my birth mother once tried to contact me. Haden and Grace weren't thrilled with the idea, apparently my mum was 'a bit of a dodgy character', so I never met her. So that leaves me with looking for a new job as soon as possible. Tomorrow even. I could start tomorrow. "Okay," I say to myself, "Tomorrow we find a new job. A better job." Then I close my eyes and roll back on to my side. I'm asleep within seconds.


	6. Chapter 5

"Guess who's still unemployed?" I say as I burst into the flat.  
"Hmmmmm… is it you?" Rachel replies as I flop onto the sofa.  
"Good guess." It's been months since I quit my old job and Loki showed up. As far as I'm aware he hasn't been back here yet, and I've partially succeeded in putting him out of my mind.  
"So the job hunt isn't going well, then?" enquires Rachel, sounding a little exasperated.  
"No it is not," I reply. In the last fortnight alone I have been to seven different job interviews, none of which have ended in my employment. The one that I have just returned from was at a small business that deals with fabric. Or clothing. Something along those lines. I have a feeling that the man who interviewed me probably would have given me the job (especially since he kept hitting on me and making unbelievable suggestive comments to me) but I think I might have blown it after I slapped him and stalked out of the building.  
"When's your next interview?" Rachel shouts from her bedroom.  
I look at my watch. "In fifteen minutes," I respond while walking to my room.  
"Then why did you bother coming back here?"  
"I need to change, the last place advised that we were business dress to the interview, but this one wants casual. I didn't want to carry a bag of clothes around with me." I quickly tug on some jeans and a clean shirt, wondering whether the jeans are a little bit too casual. Unlike the other ones that I have applied for I could actually see myself enjoying this job. I'd be working with foster children, trying to get them interested in drama. Sort of a way to help them vent their emotions, I suppose. It sounds really interesting, and I'd be working in drama, so I want to do well at this interview. I decide to substitute the jeans for leggings and a skirt, so that I'll be able to move around comfortably if they want to do something practical at the interview. I dash out of the door and head down the street at a fast walk. I've got ten minutes to get to the interview, and it's about a fifteen minute walk away from the flat. As I approach the city centre I have started to run, desperate to make it on time.

_Loki sits in his cell. He is bored. Is he ever not bored anymore? His books do not interest him, nor do any visits that anyone could provide. The only thing that does interest him is Victoria. He is desperate to see her again, but he startled her so much last time that he restrains himself. He could look at her from afar as he used to, but she was so uncomfortable with the idea that he abandons it. If only she knew the reason that he had watched her, but he does not want to frighten her. He only looks over her so that he can be sure that she is safe, she is put at risk by his mere interest in her, and if anybody knew that he harboured stronger feelings for her she would be in danger from all of them. He knew of Laufey's survival after Loki had attempted to kill him in Odin's chambers, with everything that had happened with Thor immediately after he and Laufey had fought, Laufey had been able to easily make his way back to Jötunheimr. He knew that Laufey was aware of his son's existence. He knew that Laufey was not happy about his existence, or about the fact that Loki had brought around his near-death. And he knew that was aware of his feelings for Victoria. He did not know how this had come to be. Frigga had told him, she had had a premonition, and whether she was merely making conversation or trying to warn him, Loki didn't know. But, nevertheless, he was aware of Laufey. So Loki had done everything he could to protect the one person he cared about who was not able to protect themselves. He had only visited Victoria because he had heard word of Laufey's escape from Jötunheimr and he was concerned for her safety. But he had not told her of this, he did not wish to scare her any more than he already had. The thought of Laufey worries him, and he cannot resist checking on Victoria. He has not seen her since he came to Midgard, what seems like such a long time ago. He conjures a small portal, taking an enormous amount of his strength to conceal it from the guards, and to create it in the first place. As soon as he sees her he starts, he panics, and he summons as much of his strength and power as possible to get him to Midgard._

Birmingham City Centre is busy, but it's not as crowded as it could be at this time of day. I'm still running, I only have two or three minutes left before I'll be late. I dash past the Town Hall glancing and my watch and wincing. My sprint is interrupted by a gigantic blue flash a few feet in front of me. A crack like thunder accompanies the flash and I'm thrown backwards onto the ground. My head narrowly escapes being smacked against the ground, the last thing I need is another headache. People in the square are screaming, some of them are running away. Others are stood still, frozen. I stare at the huge figure looming down at me out of the flash. I wonder if he looks so massive because I'm on the ground, but I'm more preoccupied with the fact that his skin is blue. Blue. That can't be right, can it? Also, his eyes are a deep, blood red. Everything about him screams dangerous. Glancing to the side, I can see that the fountain in front of the Town Hall has completely frozen over. The figure leans over me, staring me straight in the eyes. "Victoria, I believe," he says, his deep voice resounding around the square. I can't speak, I'm not even that frightened, just officially weirded out, so I just nod. "Good, just the girl that I have been looking for."  
My voice manages to croak out, "Me? You've been looking for me?" Why are all these weird people suddenly so interested in me?  
"As I understand it, you are in the favour of Loki Odinson, or should I say Laufeyson?" The change in surname means nothing to me, but clearly it is important. Also, he said 'in the favour of Loki'. Does that mean what I think it means?

I'm not given any chance to neither confirm nor deny his statement, as he snaps a huge blue hand out and it closes around my neck. Now I'm scared. People around us gasp as he lifts me up from the ground, raising me above his head. I don't scream, I don't know if it's because I'm trying to be brave or because I can't breathe properly. It's only when I'm above his head that I realise just how tall this guy is. I'm suspended at least five feet above the ground, my feet flailing as I try to kick him, to force him to release me, but he holds me at arm's length, and my feet don't reach him. "Who are you?" I choke out.  
He retracts his arm, pulling me close to him and he whispers, "I am vengeance," into my ear before he throws me to the ground once more. The impact isn't enough to injure me, but I'm severely winded. I pull myself onto my hands and knees and I cough. Out of the corner of my eye I see the blue giant prepare to strike, so I wait for the right moment, and as he brings his arm down I roll out of the way and quickly get to my feet. I try to duck under his arm as he brings it around to follow me, but I misjudge the timing and he catches me again, this time by the back of the head. He lifts me a second time. I can feel his torso against my back, and so I kick again, backwards this time. I definitely make contact but this doesn't seem to affect him in the slightest. I look around the square, and I can't believe that there are still people here. They've recoiled into one group, but I don't think that this will protect them if he changes his target to them. His fingers squeeze the back of my head and I cry out in pain; it feels like a vice is tightening around my head. "How shall I do it?" he says into my ear again, but louder this time, nearly deafening me. "Shall I crush you in my hands? Shall I squeeze all of the life out of you? Or simply stab you through the heart? That seems rather fitting, doesn't it?"

Why it is so fitting I have no idea, but I do know that I am more scared than I have ever been before in my life. "Oh my God," I say. My voice barely rises above a whisper. "Who the hell are you? What did I do that deserves your vengeance? I've never seen you before, or anyone like you, so - "  
He cuts me off. "Oh, it isn't you who committed the crime, you are just an easy target, and rather a soft point for the person who did. So," he says, pulling out a translucent knife and holds it in front of my face. It looks like it's made from ice. "Are you prepared?"  
"Oh my god," I say again, as he withdraws the knife, placing it between my shoulder blades.


	7. Chapter 6

I'm certain that he's just about to plunge it into my back when there's another flash in front of us. It's not blue this time, but green, and it is more contained. When the flash dissipates there is a man standing there. It only takes me a second to identify him as Loki, complete with armour and green cape, though without the ridiculous helmet that I had seen him wear in New York. He faces me and the giant, and bellows, "Laufey, let her go!" So the giant finally has a name. The implications of him calling Loki 'Laufeyson' are suddenly made much clearer to me. This is Loki's father. I try not to actually think about that.  
"I see you have managed to escape your imprisonment, Asgardian," Laufey says. "That makes this so much sweeter." He turns me to the side so that Loki will be able to see him plunge the knife into my back, but before he has an opportunity to do this Loki has disappeared. Less than a second later he reappears between us, forcing Laufey and I apart. As I fall Loki appears in front of me once more, catching me before I hit the ground.  
"Run!" he cries as he turns back to Laufey, blocking the strike that he throws towards us. It takes me a few moments to register what he's said, but once I have I scramble to my feet and run away from the brawling figures. But then I hear Loki cry out from behind me, and I turn back to see what happened. I'm not too far away, I'm close enough to them to see a long cut on Loki's cheek. I stand to the side and watch. Their battle is brutal, but beautiful at the same time. Loki is graceful and elegant in his fighting, dodging Laufey's blows and adding in a few of his own. But Laufey is quick despite his size, and it does not take long before he manages to catch Loki again, knocking him to the ground and placing his foot on Loki's chest, covering his entire torso. There's nothing I can do to stop Laufey, and Loki told me to stay away, but I can't help moving back towards them. Loki saved my life, I have to at least try to help him in return.

Laufey holds his ice dagger over Loki's face, taunting him while he holds him down. As I run over I say, as loud and as forcefully as I can, "Stop it, please, stop!" I don't think for a second that this will have any affect, so I'm surprised when Laufey looks to me.  
"Ah, this is interesting. Harbouring some feelings for him yourself, are you?"  
I ignore his comment. "Don't kill him, please. You don't have to."  
"I am merely returning the favour."  
I am confused. "What?"  
Laufey smiles evilly. "Has the fallen prince not informed you of how he made a deal with his long lost father, only to betray him and his people and try to kill him?"  
I look to Loki. "What's he talking about?"  
Loki doesn't miss a beat. "He attacked the All-Father's chambers while he slept, I was protecting my king."  
Laufey's face sours. "You gave me access in the first place!" he bellows down at Loki. "All you wanted was to prove to your false father that you were worthy of his love. That did not transpire as you planned, did it? Did you enjoy your fall through the bifröst?"

I have no idea what either of them are talking about, but Laufey's statement clearly registers with Loki, and something appears to snap inside him. Laufey doesn't stop here though. "After I have dealt with you," he says threateningly, so that only Loki and I can hear him, "I will take her, and I will crush her until nothing but a broken shell of her body remains. Then I will divide both of your bodies and scatter the pieces across the nine realms, so that no amount of magic can bring either of you back." The second that Laufey has finished speaking Loki pulls out two small daggers and rams them into Laufey's foot, forcing him to lift his foot in pain. Loki rolls out from underneath him and springs to his feet. He takes advantage of Laufey's pain and surprise and jumps up onto Laufey's back. There's another green flash as Loki summons both of the daggers in Laufey's foot and brings them to his hands. How is he doing this? I know he's a God and everything, but he looks like he's using magic. That can't be possible, none of this can be possible! Once Loki has his daggers he jams them into Laufey's neck and he cries out in agony and fury. Laufey does his best to try and shake Loki from his position, but the daggers in his neck are buried deep and Loki remains on Laufey's back.  
Loki leans forwards and whispers, barely loud enough for me to hear, "Somehow, I do not think you will have an opportunity to do that. You shall serve as an example of my strength to your people." And with nothing but a flick of the wrist, Loki moves the daggers through Laufey's flesh, and in fewer than ten seconds Laufey's head has been removed from his shoulders. As Laufey's body crumples Loki jumps backwards, landing firmly on his feet before his foe's decapitated corpse hits the ground.

The people who had been stood watching suddenly spring back into life. Some of them run in the opposite direction, past the still frozen fountain. Others begin typing on mobile phones, texting loved ones, or phoning the police most likely. Loki comes over to me leaving Laufey's carcass on the ground behind him. He puts his hands on my shoulders and looks me directly in the eyes. "Are you alright?" he asks me, the concern coming through in his voice. It takes me a while to process the question, the shock is now settling in.  
I blink a few times, but I finally manage to croak, "Yeah, I'm fine. I think I'm fine anyway. I mean, I'm a bit confused and I feel a bit dizzy and there's a massive blue guy with no head lying dead over there, the same blue guy tried to kill me a few minutes ago, and there's a god who tried to take over the whole world standing in front of me and I've missed my job interview and - "  
Loki places a finger on my lips to stop me from talking. "You're babbling, my dear," he chuckles.  
"Sorry," I squeak. I feel the same spark that I felt when he touched me before.  
His hands back on my shoulders, Loki says, "Victoria, I need you to come with me."  
"Come with you where?"  
"I need you to come back with me to Asgard, you will be safe there."  
"What the hell is Asgard?" I reply.  
"It is where I am from, I am sorry to impose this on you, I never expected anything like this to happen. But it has happened, and I swear to you that I will do my utmost to protect you, and I can only do that if you are with me on Asgard." I study Loki's face. I know he is a trickster, but there is no sign of trickery in his face. He really does want to protect me.  
"Is that why you got me to leave my job? In case you needed to bring me with you?" I ask him. I have to admit that I am a little touched by his concern.  
Loki nods. "I did not want there to be much that would tie you to Earth. Please, I need to know that you will always be safe. Will you come with me?"

I think about what implications my leaving home, leaving Earth, would have. Aside from Rachel, my sister and my parents, no-one else would miss me. "Give me a second," I say to Loki. I pull out my phone, thankfully not smashed, and frantically type, 'I'm going away for a while, need to get my life together. Don't worry, I'm fine, not sure how long I'll be gone, or where I'm going, but I need to do this. Love you xxx' I send it to the four of them, and then I put my phone back in my pocket and look back at Loki. "Let's go, then."  
His face lights up. "You will come with me?"  
"Well, I've got nothing better to do," I reply, my smile matching his. Loki steps even closer to me, his arm snaking around my waist.  
"You may wish to hold on," he says, and so I wind my arms around his torso. What feels like a wave of water hits me, the force of it knocking me into Loki, and he grips me a little tighter. Then some sort of force pulls us upwards, and the square, the town hall, and the people around me swim out of view in a haze of colours.


	8. Chapter 7

I don't know what is actually happening to me but I know that I do not like the feeling. It feels like all of my organs are being slowly ripped out of my body, like my body is Hasbeing turned inside out. It's not a particularly pleasant sensation and it's definitely one that I don't ever want to repeat. I cling to Loki, he doesn't seem to be experiencing any kind of distress similar to my own, or if he is, he's hiding it very well. He must be used to it. The feeling of my feet hitting solid ground throws me off balance, but Loki keeps a firm hold of me and so I don't fall over. My surroundings appear to fall into place, so I assume that, wherever we are, we've arrived. We're in a smallish room, one that looks to be made of stone, or marble, or something like that. There's very little furniture in here, a small wooden table and a few chairs, a single bookcase made of the same wood as the table and chairs. Aside from that, the room is empty. "I apologise for your discomfort," Loki says, swiftly checking the room for any occupants. "There are few pleasant ways to travel between realms without the use of the bifröst."  
"I'll be fine," I say, sinking into one of the chairs. "Just give me a minute or two. What's a bifröst?"  
"It is a bridge between the worlds," Loki explains. "It is guarded by Heimdall, who will already know of our arrival, we will be found soon, I think that it is better that we go to my father directly, he is more likely to be sympathetic towards you if we do not try to hide ourselves."  
"Hang on, how does this Hemidall guy know we're here?" I ask.  
"Heimdall," corrects Loki. "He is all-seeing."  
"Of course he is," I say. "What about you? Will your father be sympathetic to you? I assume you escaped imprisonment rather than being let out."  
"You assume correctly. To be perfectly honest with you, my dear," Loki takes my hand and begins to lead me out of the room, "It is unlikely that he will be sympathetic to you, there is no chance of him extending the same courtesy to me."

Loki leads me through small corridors, all of which look the same to me, but he seems to know where he is going. He talks to me as we walk. "I think that I should tell you the truth about me. About you."  
"What do you mean?"  
"I told you that I found you interesting because you were so engrossed in a book. This is true, but it is not the sole reason. I told you that I could not rationalise my interest in you. This is not true. You and I, we are quite similar, in more ways than one. There are simply similarities, a love of reading, a loneliness, a wish to sometimes block out the rest of the world, and shared heritage."  
"Wait, what do you mean 'a shared heritage'? You're a god, a descendant of that blue guy, I'm just a human, a mortal," I say, confused yet again.  
"No, you are not. You are not human. Not completely, anyway."  
I stop in my tracks. "What?"  
Loki turns, he seems to have realised that this is a lot for me to process. "Victoria, there are stories that I have heard. I think they are about you. After the frost giants fell before Odin, thousands of years ago, some of them escaped Jotunheimr. They spread over the nine realms, some of them coming to Earth. There they hid, in human form, mating with humans in order to continue their lineage."  
"Whoa. Do you think I'm a descendant of one of them?"  
"Yes. A direct descendant. You know that I have been able to watch over you, despite much of my magic being restrained in my cell. I have also been able to look into your past."  
"What? How?"  
"I'm afraid it is too complex for you to understand." I must look a little hurt, because Loki quickly says, "Please do not take that as an insult, there are few Asgardians who would understand either. Magic is a complicated art."

"So you say I'm a direct descendant of a frost… thingy?"  
"A frost giant. Yes, your birth father is one. Your mother is human, but she was young, confused, most likely scared. Whether she gave you up voluntarily or not I do not know."  
"Oh my God. I can't be a frost giant thing, though. I'm not blue!"  
"Neither am I," is Loki's response "Not all of the time." He closes his eyes, and concentrates. Before my eyes his skin slowly turns blue, the colour spreads from the top of his head downwards. His eyes are bright red when he opens them. I gasp, and he takes my hand, and the blue spreads from his skin to mine. A scream escapes my lips and Loki pulls his hand away as his normal skin tone returns. "I'm sorry, please do not be frightened."  
"What the hell?!" I practically shriek. "I went blue!"  
"Wait, it is not me that you are frightened of?" Loki asks, some sense of confusion resting on his face.  
"No," I reply. "You're a god, you're supposed to do weird things, but up until two minutes ago I was under the impression that I was human!"  
I'm sure that Loki is about to attempt to comfort me and calm me down, but we are interrupted by a legion of guards, all dressed in golden helmets and armed to the teeth. "Laufeyson," the leader of them barks, "You are to come with us. Any resistance and we have orders to kill you."  
"Isn't it lovely that Odin still cares so much for me?" Loki replies sarcastically. Then he catches sight of me. I am absolutely terrified. "You will be fine," he says quietly. I know the guards can still hear but I don't care. "Just stay with me and I will make sure that you are safe." I'm not sure if I mean to do it but I slip my hand into his again, whether it's for moral support or because I genuinely think that I'm about to burst into tears I'm not sure.

The guards completely surround us as we walk. Given that we are being taken to the King I assume that we are in the palace, and as we move up through the floors the décor becomes grander. The room we first appeared in was buried deep underground in the palace, so I think it must have been the servant's quarters, or something like that. We walk, every single one of us silent, for about ten minutes. I think that we must come above ground after about five minutes because that's when I first see any sign of light. We walk past a big, glassless window and through it I can see the most beautiful city that I have ever seen. The buildings are all made of a mixture of stone and gold, there are trees everywhere, and leading out of the main city is a long bridge, which I can't describe in any other way than being a rainbow bridge. Loki whispers, "Is it not beautiful? The Rainbow Bridge has been recently reconstructed after a small argument between my brother and I." Oh, so it is actually a rainbow bridge.  
A guard hits Loki's shoulder with his spear and says, "Be silent." Loki gives him a distasteful look, but he complies. After another few minutes of silent walking, my hand still in Loki's, we approach a massive golden throne, upon which sits an imposing figure in dark armour, encompassed by a deep red cloak. He holds a long golden spear in his right hand. This must be Odin, who from what I have been told, seems to be a pretty important guy. The impression I have is that he's king of, well, of everything really. So I am just a little bit nervous about talking to him. Especially when I don't think he's very happy about either Loki or I being here. His expression confirms this. The guards bow and I'm not sure if I should too, but Loki doesn't so I remain as I am. The guards in front of us part and Odin beckons us forwards. Loki drops my hand, but not before he gives it a reassuring squeeze.

"How did you escape your imprisonment?" Odin's question is directed at Loki, he completely ignores me, which I am fine with to be honest.  
"You seem to have forgotten," Loki replies with a smirk, "I lived here for a few thousand years before you imprisoned me in that dungeon, I have learned how to circumvent those cells."  
"That is not an oversight that I shall be making a second time," says Odin. "You will be locked away in the dungeon again, but this time all of your magic will be taken from you, I never should have let Frigga convince me to let you keep it in the first place." Now he looks at me. "And why have you brought this mortal here? Surely you do not intend to use her as a bargaining chip; you know that she will have no sympathy from me."  
Loki's hard exterior suddenly breaks slightly. He steps forward, the guards grip their weapons tighter as he does so. But Loki moves only a little, and now he becomes more respectful and less, for want of a better word, bitter. "Odin, she needs protection. That is why I went to Earth, not to escape my punishment but to ensure her safety. Laufey was alive, he nearly killed her on Earth, and I do not want her to be open to attacks from other Frost Giants." He does not kneel, but he does bow his head slightly.  
"Why should Laufey target her? What relevance does she have?"  
"She is a Jotun child, of one of the lost Frost Giants and a mortal. Laufey may simply be trying to purify his race." Loki clearly does not wish to give Odin the real reason for Laufey's attack on me. Perhaps he is worried that his feelings will make him seem weak.  
"Give me a good reason why I should give her sanctuary here," says Odin.  
"Because if you do," Loki responds, "I will comply with your order. You may take my powers away from me and I will co-operate fully. I will not try to escape again, or use any sort of trickery as long as she is kept safe."

Odin now switches his attention to me. "You are keeping awfully quiet in a discussion which is about you."  
"I don't think I really have anything to add," I say sheepishly. "But, um, I trust Loki, and he says I'm in danger if I stay on Earth, so I don't really think that that's a good idea."  
Odin smiles, the first time that I have seen him smile. "He is not a wise man to put your trust in, but I believe you. Heimdall has told me that there was a disturbance of some sort on Earth. You must be what he was referring to. What is your name?"  
"Victoria. Victoria Reid."  
He nods and says, "Well, Miss Reid, welcome to Asgard." Then he focuses back on Loki, who is stood beside me again. "If you swear that you will relinquish your powers, I will allow her to stay."  
Loki sighs slightly in relief. "I agree." Odin beckons a couple of the guards forward. Loki turns to me and says, "You will be safe here, you no longer need to worry."  
"But they can't just lock you away," I say, still a little panicked. "I don't know anyone here, what am I supposed to do?"  
Loki laughs. "I am sure that you will find plenty to occupy yourself with. Merely exploring Asgard will take you over a week! And, if you ever find yourself with nothing to do, you could always come and visit me for an hour or two."  
I smile and say, "Of course I will. Thank you for everything you've done for me."  
He kisses my hand and says, "It was my pleasure." Then the guards lead him away.


	9. Chapter 8

I'm escorted to a room not too far away from the throne room. Inside it is decorated beautifully, slightly more modest than the golden throne. The bed sheets are a light purple, and the other fabric in the room matches them. The furniture is a mixture of wood and gold, but it is not a garish as the throne. Actually, I really like it. My skirt, leggings and T-Shirt make me feel very underdressed, so I cross to the wardrobe. Inside is a rack of the most beautiful dresses that I have ever seen. I hurriedly dress myself in a floor length gown made of a gorgeous green material. I leave my hair down, having no other idea of what to do with it, and then I sit down on the bed. I try to process everything that's happened. Not just today, but what happened four months ago as well, when I first met Loki. He'd said, more or less, that he had feelings for me. Or has feelings for me I should say; Laufey's words and Loki's actions today have pretty much confirmed that. Yet he still seems a little distant, almost nervous, as if he's afraid he's going to hurt me. It should be me who's afraid that he will hurt me, but I'm not. And I don't really know why. I suppose it's undeniable that I am attracted to Loki, as much as he frightens me. Or does he frighten me? He must have killed hundreds of people in New York. He beheaded someone right in front of me, but I don't think I'm actually scared of him. Why not? I have every reason to be terrified of him. I don't have much more time to think about this, as I hear three loud knocks on the door. "Come in," I say, not really caring who it is.

The door swings open, and a very tall, very broad man enters my room. I recognise from his blonde hair, beard and apparel that he must be Thor. "Thank you, my lady," he says. His voice is loud and deep, much deeper than Loki's.  
"Prince Thor, I presume?"  
"Just Thor, please, there is no need for formalities. May I speak with you?" he asks, his manner very polite.  
"Uh, yeah, of course," I reply quietly. If it's possible, Thor is even more intimidating than Odin, or than might just be because he's closer to me. He seats himself in one of the purple covered chairs and gestures for me to join him. The chair is soft and comfortable, and I have to fight the urge to swing my legs over the arm, like I would at home. Home. It suddenly hits me that I may never go back there again. This might be my home from now on. I push the emotion down, I am not breaking down now.  
"I hoped that we could perhaps discuss why you are here?" says Thor. I find it difficult to meet his eyes; he is definitely more intimidating than Odin.  
"Um, well," I stammer, "I'm here because Loki brought me here to protect me, or something. Did your father not tell you?"  
Thor smiles. "He did. I meant to ask, why has Loki brought you here? How did you meet him?"  
"He accidentally transported me to New York and then he told me that he'd been practically stalking me." I see the look of anger in Thor's eyes, and so I add, "That makes it sound much more serious than it is. He said he'd noticed me because I'm like him."  
"It is true that you are both of Jotun heritages, but I do not see any other connection," responds Thor. I don't really want to tell Thor about the other things that Loki said we share, the loneliness, the wish to block out the world, they are too personal for both him and me.

"I understand if you feel that this is a private matter," Thor says after a minute or two of slightly awkward silence, "But would you be able to tell me of your history? Information regarding your family and your background may assist us in determining Loki's motives."  
I see no harm in discussing this. I've never had any problems talking about my adoptive parents. Grace and Haden were always brilliant (aside from the whole forbidding me to meet my birth mother thing) and I don't remember ever having any major issues about being adopted. "Well, where do you want to start?"  
"Could you please tell me of your mother and your father?"  
"Adoptive or birth?"  
"Which do you consider to be your parents?"  
"Oh that's easy," I reply. "Grace and Haden, definitely. My adoptive parents."  
Thor looks momentarily confused. "You call your parents by their forenames?"  
I nod. "Yeah, calling them 'mum and dad' never really seemed right. But that's what they are to me."  
"May I ask, when did they tell you of your true parentage?" asks Thor.  
"I don't really remember a time when I didn't know. They never tried to hide anything, I always knew. It was never really an issue."  
Thor chuckles to himself and says, "Well, you have certainly handled it better than Loki." I don't really know how to respond, so I wait for him to ask another question. "Do you have any siblings?" he inquires.  
"A sister, Sophie."  
"Is she adopted as well?"  
"No. She's a lot older than me, ten years in fact. But she's always been my sister, regardless."  
"I understand," replies Thor, and his expression conveys a certain sadness. Almost like regret.

"Soph's lovely," I continue. "She's very funny and quite loud. She does a lot of sciency stuff, physics I think. She worked over in America for a few months, but she didn't get on with the woman in charge of the project, I think her name was Jane Foster." Thor looks up at the name, but I think nothing of it. "Soph got annoyed that she was always miserable, only interested in finding some guy who ran off and left her, at least that's what I gathered from what Soph told me. She's married now - "  
"Jane is married?" interjects Thor.  
I brush it off. "No, Soph is. She got married and moved to Australia. She's phoned me a few times, but with the time difference and us both being busy, we haven't spoken in a while. I might never talk to her again…" I trail off. I look up at Thor. "What's going to happen to me? I am staying here forever? Will I ever be able to go home?"  
Thor sighs, and he takes my hand. There's no spark, like there was with Loki, but it is nice. Comforting. "I do not know. Loki's surrender was conditional on your saying here. You will be safe here, although I am not sure what he believes will happen to you."  
"Well, I have to admit that I don't really want another huge blue guy to attack me. One was enough." Thor laughs, and I do too. Any tension or awkwardness that was here initially is gone now.


	10. Chapter 9

_**I know I don't normally update midweek, but I thought I'd give you all a little present, so have a nice fluffy chapter from me! Happy holidays everyone! :)**_

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It's been two hours since Thor came to visit me. And I am bored. I've skimmed through one or two of the books, but they're all on the history of Asgard or the Nine Realms, and though I'm sure that they're very interesting, I'm not in the mood for a history lesson. It occurs to me that I haven't been told that I have to stay in my room. I also haven't been told that I cannot visit Loki. I really can't think of anything else to do. And I genuinely want to see him. I think that I have made friends with Thor, or we are at least amiable acquaintances, but there is no real connection there. The only other person I know here is Loki, and I definitely have a connection with him. I open the door and exit my room. I then realise that I have absolutely no idea where the dungeons are. Who can I ask? I don't know where Thor is, and I'm certainly not going to ask Odin. I don't think it's very likely that a guard will tell me, not without Odin's permission, so what do I do? "Are you lost, my dear?"  
I turn around and see a tall, blonde woman standing a few feet behind me, at the end of the corridor. She wears a dress similar to mine, but made out of blue silk with a golden breastplate. "Uh, sort of, I guess."  
"You wish to go to the dungeons, do you not?" she asks. I'm wary of her, but she is smiling, and seems friendly enough.  
"Yeah, sorry," I reply, thinking that I should probably apologise for this.  
"There is no need to apologise," she says as she approaches me, "I am glad that you care for Loki enough to want to see him. I am Frigga, Loki's mother."  
Oh good, at least I know who she is now. "Oh, okay, cool," I say, and then I realise what a stupid thing to say this is. "Um, do I need to curtsey or anything?" I'm being serious but Frigga laughs jovially.  
"No, my dear, you do not need to do anything like that. I cannot accompany you to the dungeons, Loki is not allowed to see me, but I shall show you the way."  
"Thanks, but how can you show me the way if you're not allowed to go there?"  
She smiles. "Just follow me," she says as she walks down the corridor.

I being to follow Frigga, but after about one hundred metres, Frigga disappears. "Oh fantastic," I whisper under my breath as I wonder what to do now. But then I spot a glowing green arrow on the wall, pointing me to the left. I follow it, and at the end of the subsequent hallway there is a second arrow. The arrows lead me through the palace and down several flights of stairs until I reach, what I assume is, the dungeons. The huge black doors in front of me open by themselves.  
Frigga must have a similar magic to Loki, as when I approach the guard I hear, "Just ask him to open the cell, he will comply," inside my head, and there is no doubt in my mind that it is Frigga. I do so, and the guard nods, seeming distracted. Frigga must be influencing him, or something like that. I follow the guard to the first cell on the right. The dungeon is dark, grey stone and white cells, each giving off very little light. As I approach Loki's cell I see him sat on a wooden bed, a book in his hands. He looks up as the guard opens the cell, and then ushers me into it. When he sees me he rises, laying the book on the bed beside him.  
"Victoria, I did not expect you so soon," he says coolly.  
"You don't mind, do you?" I ask tentatively, I still don't want to upset him.  
"Of course I do not mind," he replies with a warm smile. "I merely thought that you would spent a while exploring Asgard."  
"It's not really something that I wanted to do on my own."  
"I am afraid that there is nothing I can do about that, my dear. For obvious reasons, I cannot accompany you," Loki sighs.

I walk over and stand directly in front of him. "I don't think I ever actually thanked you for, well, saving my life and everything."  
"You do not need to thank me, but you are most welcome, Victoria." He takes my hand. "I must apologise for your having to stay here, but it is too dangerous for you to return to Earth, especially without my being able to reach you. I am sorry."  
I sigh. "It's fine, I'll be okay, and as I said, I really do appreciate you looking out for me. But, I guess, I'm not feeling too great about the whole 'not ever seeing my family again' thing. But, I'll be fine. I'll get along, I'll cope somehow." Then something else hits me, and I start to panic. "Grace and Haden won't even know I'm alive. I sent them that text saying I was going away, but they won't hear from me again. And neither will Sophie, or Rachel. And I didn't tell anyone else! What if the get the police involved?!" I am officially panicking now, all of the implications of my leaving have suddenly struck me all in one go. My chest feels tight and I can't seem to breathe properly. My legs feel weak and I can't focus on anything. But then I feel two strong hands grip my upper arms and guide me to the bed. My knees give out when they touch the bed, but Loki doesn't let me fall. He supports me and lowers me into a sitting position. He then sits beside me, his arm around my shoulders.

"Calm down, Victoria, please. You are going to be fine, your mother and father will cope without you, and there is no reason why you will not be able to return to Earth in the future." I hang on to Loki's words, his voice stabilising me as the panic threatens to take over.  
"I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do," I repeat over and over, my voice rising, approaching hysteria. Loki pulls me in closer to him as I begin to sob. Letting it all out actually makes me feel a little bit better. I can't really remember the last time I just cried and didn't care about who saw me. I'm vaguely aware of Loki whispering to me, trying to calm me, but I can't even focus on him anymore, so he just manoeuvres me so that I'm practically in his lap and my head rests against his chest, and he just holds me as I cry. I'm not sure how long we stay like this, but eventually I am all cried out. But Loki continues to hold me, and I can feel his head against my neck.  
"I promise you," he whispers, "You do not need to be afraid. You will have nothing to worry about here, everything thing is going to be alright."  
I slowly sit up and attempt to dry my eyes with my hands. The only effect that this has is to rub off my mascara. I dread to think what I look like. Running my thumbs under my eyes I succeed in wiping off the majority of my eye make-up, so I hope that it doesn't look too awful. "Oh God, I'm such a mess," I mutter.  
I glance at Loki's face and see that he is smiling at me. He takes both of my hands in his and says, "You look beautiful." I can't help but blush. Loki's hands are cold, and I can't decide if it's because of his, our heritage or if it is simply cold in the dungeon. His emerald eyes appear to gleam in the fairly dim light. I fix my gaze onto his eyes, and, having found something to fix on to, the panic begins to fade. His hand rests on my neck, his thumb lightly stroking my cheek.  
A very small part of my brain (it must be the intelligent part) is saying, "What the hell are you doing? This man has murdered loads of people, he's a wanted criminal, he's locked in a cell and he's a God! Stop what you are doing right this second and go back home before you get in even deeper!"  
However, the voice of reason is being drowned out by the rest of my brain going, "Oh my God, I think he's going to kiss me." And this part of my brain is correct.

Loki leans forward and his lips brush mine, softly at first. And it is perfect. I've been kissed before, I mean I have had boyfriends, had first kisses before, but it's never felt like this. Normally I freeze, tense up, sometimes wait for it to be over. Not this time. I am completely relaxed, and I feel… perfect. It's sounds so stupid, I know, but that's how I feel. Nothing else matters anymore. Loki's hands move to the back of my neck, one of them entwining itself in my hair, and he kisses me a little harder. I shift my hands too, moving them onto his waist, and I'm surprised at my own bravery here, my hands normally stay by my side. I even begin to kiss him back a little, and we stay like that, locked together, and everything is perfect.


	11. Chapter 10

_**Hope you all had a lovely Christmas :) Back to the normal Friday updates now, any and all reviews would be really appreciated.**_

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I stay with Loki for another few hours. We talk, we kiss, we laugh, sometimes we don't do anything. But eventually the guard tells me that I must leave, and although I don't want to go, I don't question him. I don't want to ruin any chances of me visiting again. I make my way back to my room, and miraculously I manage not to get lost. I look out of one of the huge windows to see that the sky is growing darker. For a while I sit on the windowsill and just watch as the city begins to gleam with flickering candlelight. I feel a sudden wave of fatigue wash over me, and so I pull off my dress, and as I can't be bothered to rifle through the wardrobe to find some bedclothes, I crawl beneath the warm sheets in my underwear. The bed is possibly the most comfortable thing that I have ever laid upon, and it doesn't take long before I drift off into a luxurious sleep. I don't dream very often, and when I do they're normally about something stupid and trivial, but tonight I begin to dream about Asgard. Or what I think is Asgard; I know that I have never been here before. I'm sat on a golden-coloured stone wall on the edge of a courtyard. I look down to see that I'm wearing a similar dress to the one I wore today, but slightly grander, the fabric more refined, I think it might be velvet. Golden bracelets snake around my arms and around my neck there is a beautiful glittering necklace. "You look absolutely stunning, my dear," says Loki from across the courtyard. Loki? I thought I was alone here. No, there he is. He crosses to me and takes my hand, gently pulling me to my feet. "It is good to see you again."  
"You only saw me an hour ago," I say, but he doesn't reply to this.  
Instead he says, "I wish that I could tell you how I feel about you. How much I care for you."  
I smile. "You can. This is only a dream, it's not like it's really you anyway."  
"How can you be so sure?" asks Loki, playfully.

I step back slightly. "Whoa, hang on," I say suspiciously. "Is this you? Are you controlling my dream?" Loki nods, a mischievous smile playing on his face. I feel like I should be angry, but I'm not. I'm just curious. "How can you do that?" I ask. "I thought you had all of your magic taken away from you."  
Loki scoffs. "Odin considers himself to be the most intelligent being in the Nine Realms, but it is incredibly easy to hide things from him. Aside from you, me and Frigga, everybody is under the impression that I am completely powerless."  
"Bloody hell, Loki," I sigh, "Don't you think that this is a little dangerous? What happens to you if Odin finds out about this? What happens to me?"  
"Nothing will happen to you," Loki responds quietly. "I promised you that I would keep you safe. This is a promise that I will keep. But I am here to talk to you for a reason. Here we can speak without the worry of being overheard." His voice grows more serious, as does his expression.  
"Talk about what? Loki, you're scaring me a little bit."  
"That was not my intention," he assures me. "But I must speak with you. I need your help." I begin to say something, but he holds up a hand to silence me. "There will come a time, soon, when I will require your assistance. I can't tell what with, but you will find out soon enough."  
"What? What are you talking about? Loki, why would you need my help? Of what use am I?"  
"You will see. I cannot tell you yet, I do not wish to put you in a position where you will have to lie. More than anything, because I do not think that you will be convincing enough."  
"Oh thank you, thank you very much," I say sarcastically, but then I smile. I'm finding it quite difficult to even feign being angry with him. "So, you can talk to me in my dreams, then."  
Loki grins. "Yes, it is not an easy spell to perform, but it is an effective one nevertheless."  
"Just how effective?" I ask cheekily.  
Loki pulls me close to him and wraps his arms around me before he leans down and brings his lips to mine. I don't even care that this is a dream, I just lose myself in his embrace.

Nothing new happens for over two months. My days are all pretty much identical. I get up, I dress, I read, I eat. Sometimes I talk to Thor, but he's not around very much. I meet a few other Asgardians, but they're all a little intimidating. The only person, aside from Loki obviously, who I am able to talk to without feeling frightened is Frigga, but even she is difficult to find most of the time. I miss my family, of course, but focusing on them makes me feel so guilty that I try not to think about any of them. It makes me sound like such a horrible person, but it's the only way I can deal with the pain and guilt of leaving them. The only part of the day that I ever enjoy is the few hours that I can spend with Loki. We spend most of this time talking, but sometimes we fall silent and just sit together. I get the impression that he is incredibly lonely, lonelier than I am, even though he is surrounded by people who he has known all of his life. And I feel very sorry for him. I want to tell him that I'm not going to leave him, I want to tell him how much I care about him, but these are promises that I don't know if I can keep. But there is one thing I do know. Despite all of my better judgement, despite all of the terrible things that he's done, despite how I've only known him for a short time, I'm pretty sure that I'm falling for him.

On the morning that marks the third month since I arrived in Asgard, and I wake up as normal, the light of the sun filtering through the purple curtains rousing me from a pleasant sleep. At first my morning routine is the same as always, but, as I get dressed, there is a knock at the door. I pull on my dress and cross to the door. Upon opening it, I find a guard stood before me. "The All-father requires your presence," he booms.  
"Really?" I reply. "Me? Are you sure?"  
The guard looks at me, annoyed. "Of course I am sure," he barks, "Why would I have come here otherwise?"  
"Alright, alright. Calm down," I say, "I'm sorry."  
The guard turns and begins to walk down the corridor, and I am just about to follow him when he turns around. "Are you coming, then?"  
'Well, somebody needs to work on their people skills,' I think, but I manage to restrain myself from saying it. Instead I just follow him. The guard leads me to the Throne Room, somewhere I haven't been since the day I arrived. Odin sits in the same position as before, and he is no less terrifying.  
"Miss Reid, how are you finding your stay here?" He sounds like a hotel receptionist, asking the question but not caring about the answer. This is just a formality.  
I'm not really sure what to say in response, so I just say, "Um, it's fine, thanks."  
"May I speak with you in private?"  
I don't know whether this is a genuine question or just a way of telling the guards to leave, but I say, "Yeah, sure," anyway.  
Odin stands up and descends the steps in front of his throne and walks straight past me, calling, "Follow me," over his shoulder.


	12. Chapter 11

**_Dear my lovely guest reviewer (MrsLoki), thank you for all your reviews, it's lovely to see someone invested in a story! Sorry about your job :( I would love to update more than once a week, but with school, work and auditions I'm worried that I won't be able to write quickly enough to keep up! xxx_**

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I walk a few paces behind Odin. We leave the Throne Room behind us, and I am thankful that no guards appear to be following us. Odin strides through the corridors, and despite his age, I am struggling to keep up with him. After a while we come to a staircase, a separate one to the one that leads to the dungeons. We descend into the lower levels of the palace, and Odin leads me into a long, dark hallway. "Where are we?" I ask tentatively.  
"This is the Hall of Relics," answers Odin, matter-of-factly, as if I should already know this. "I wish to show you something, I believe that it will shed some light on your current situation."  
"Or you could just tell me instead of dragging me all the way down to this rather creepy hallway," I mutter under my breath. I don't intend for him to hear me, but the glare that he shoots me suggests that he did.  
"This way," he says, rather coldly. He sweeps over to a large, leather bound book. It looks like something you'd find in an old National Trust Library, books that look like they were never meant to be read, that they're just for show. But Odin does begin to read it, skipping through the pages until he finds the ones he's looking for. "This book contains all of Asgard's history. It writes itself, and it has been documenting everything that happens in this Realm since the end of the Dark Times. Each of the Nine Realms has one."  
"Shouldn't it be a bit bigger?" I ask. Odin turns to look at me. "Well, if it contains everything that's happened to an entire world since the dawn of time, or whatever, shouldn't it be a bit bigger than that book?"  
"This is merely the current volume of the book," Odin replies, looking and sounding very annoyed.  
"I was only asking," I whisper, but I decide not to push it. He is the King, after all, and I am only staying here with his permission.

Odin has found the page that he was looking for, and so he turns back to me again and says, "This page is what is currently happening in Asgard, at this moment." He gestures for me to look. Curly black letters are appearing on the page. Odin flicks to a few pages before and says, "This is the day upon which you arrived." I read the few lines that he is pointing to, and, sure enough, the lines document a stranger, a mortal arriving in Asgard.  
"If I may ask, my lord," I say, politeness foremost on my mind, I've already annoyed him enough today, "Why are you showing me this?"  
"Because, as I mentioned before, there is a book like this belonging to each of the Nine Realms. There is one documenting everything that happens in, and to the people of, each world. Therefore, there is a book that contains the history of Jötunheimr. It has only recently occurred to me that your existence will be contained in this book, and so I believe that this is how Laufey knew of you, knew where to find you. Loki's previous visit to Midgard before Laufey attacked you is also likely to be written in that book, and that is how he knew of the attraction between you."  
I attempt to bluff. "What attraction between us? There's no attraction between - "  
"Please do not insult me," he interrupts. "Why else would he give himself up to keep you safe?"  
"Fair enough," I say. There's really no point in debating this. "But why have you told me this?" I continue. "Why did you take the time to tell me?"  
"It was only fair to you," replies Odin. "You have been brought here by circumstances beyond your control, it is only fair that you understand those circumstances."

For the first time, I realise that Odin isn't actually as scary as he seems, and so I smile and say, "Well, thank you, you didn't have to do that, so thank you."  
He smiles in return and nods. "You are welcome, but I do have one request in return."  
"Anything," I say, which is only fair.  
"I must ask you not to share this information with Loki. Few people know of the existence of these books, and I do not want him to know of Jötunheimr's book," he says.  
"Why not?"  
"I feel that he might find himself wanting possession of this book, and - "  
I interrupt him with, "Why shouldn't he read it?" Odin's face sours again and he looks at me, demanding an explanation. "He must still have questions about his life, his heritage, even more than I do. He should be allowed to read it, it could help him understand himself."  
The warmth that Odin showed me earlier is gone now, and he eyes me with a look of contempt and anger. "You must not inform him of this book," he says slowly. "As long as you are living in Asgard, you are living under my rule, and I forbid you from telling him of this."  
"You can't actually stop me," I begin to argue.  
Odin cuts me off by saying, "Yes I can. If you are unable to conceal this secret when you see him, then I forbid from seeing him."  
My face falls, and it feels a little bit like I've been punched in the stomach. "But, but," I stutter, "But I have to see him, he'll be down there all alone if I don't visit him, you can't - "  
"Why do you care so much?" Odin asks.  
"Because I love him, you twat!" I blurt out, unable to stop myself. There is a rather awkward silence that hangs around the air. I don't wait for Odin to tell me to leave, I just turn on my heel and march up the stairs and back to my room. I suddenly realise what I said. "I love him." I said that I love him. And it's true. I know it is. I am in love with a (slightly homicidal) God. Brilliant.


	13. Chapter 12

I need to think. I need to think. I need to think.

It occurs to me that thinking, 'I need to think,' over and over again isn't massively beneficial. But how else am I supposed to deal with this? I am in love with Loki. Loki, who I barely know and who tried to take over the world and who is currently locked in a dungeon for committing numerous crimes. Great. This is just perfect. I mean, my choice in romantic interests has never been that wise, but this really takes the biscuit. But I can't focus on that now. I need to find a way to visit him, to tell him about this book. I stand by what I said to Odin; Loki deserves to know about his own people's past. I spend a while thinking of ways to get down to the dungeons. I could attempt to sneak past the guards, but I highly doubt that that plan has any chance of succeeding. I could wait and hope that he comes into my dreams again, but what if he doesn't? I could try and persuade someone else to convey a message to him. No, the only person who might be willing to do this is Frigga, and she's not allowed to see him either. Frigga! Frigga has magical powers as well as Loki, surely she'd be willing to help me slip into the dungeons? It's worth a try.

I pick up a book, leave my room and make my way to one of the many courtyards outside the palace. This is one of the few areas where I can sit and read without arousing any suspicion while I wait for Frigga to walk past – she's bound to at some point, this is a fairly busy place. I read for about fifteen minutes, not really concentrating on the words, but thinking about Loki. About his lovely, long raven hair and his brilliant green eyes. About his strong frame and the way that he lifted me with such ease. But I think more about his nature, how he always seems so certain, yet so lost. How he comforted me when I cried, and how we can sit in silence together and never become bored. How, even when he is quiet, you can practically see his fantastic mind still working. I think about how he protected me, is still protecting me, and about how, despite the other people that I have met here, he is the only person who I ever want to see.

I am roused from my daydreaming about Loki by my book falling out of my hands. I tend to drop things when I'm not concentrating, and it's a good thing, as as I lean down to pick up the book I see Frigga walk past the open windows. Grabbing the book, I head after her. "My Queen," I call. Frigga turns and smiles kindly when she sees me. "Might I speak with you?"  
"Of course, Victoria. What can I do for you?"  
I'm not really sure if I should be asking Frigga this. She's is lovely and, of course, she does love Loki but it is still illegal; both of us have been forbidden to see him. But then my resolve comes back, and I ask anyway, "I was wondering…" I falter again.  
Frigga eyes me, not suspicious exactly, and she asks, "Is this a conversation that we need to be having in private?"  
"Yeah, it kind of is," I reply, and she takes my hand, and leads me to a chamber off of the main hallway. I can only guess that these are Frigga's private quarters. She nods for me to continue. "I was wondering if you would be able to help me get into the dungeons. The All-father has forbidden me to visit Loki anymore."  
"Why ever not?"  
"Because I refused to keep those books a secret from Loki."  
Frigga smiles. "So he did tell you of the books and how Laufey knew of you. I am glad, I did not expect him to listen to me." Now the true reason why Odin showed me the book is clear: Frigga asked him to show me. My expression must be quizzical, as Frigga explains, "You deserved to know what put you here."  
"That's pretty much what Odin said to me," I reply.  
"I know," Frigga says with a grin. "That's what I told him to tell you."

I smile. "Thank you," I say, "But I think that Loki needs to know about them as well. I think that he should be allowed to read them."  
"As do I," replies Frigga, which takes me by surprise a little bit. "I have been trying to convince Odin of this for years, but he always thought that Loki was too dangerous to have that knowledge. The only way I was able to convince him to let you know of them was to remind him that you had no power to try and find the Jötunheimr book. Please don't take that as an insult," she adds.  
I chuckle and say, "It's fine." There is a slight pause. "My lady, would you be able to help me see Loki?"  
"Would you tell him of these books?"  
"Yes." I see no point in lying to her, and it wouldn't feel right anyway. "Yes, I would. He deserves to know."  
Frigga considers my request, but then she asks, "My dear, I understand that it is a personal question, but what exactly are your feelings towards my son?"  
"Well," I hesitate, but if I can't tell her there isn't really anyone else who I can confide in. "As I might have accidentally shouted at your husband, I'm pretty sure that I love him. In fact, I'm certain of it."

Not a second has passed before Frigga embraces me, holding me tight and saying, "You do not know how happy it makes me to hear that. I am so glad that he has found you. Of course I will help you."  
She lets go and I say, "I understand that you can't be implicated in this."  
"I do not really care if I am. Loki is my son, and I will do anything I can to help him."

I walk along the corridor that leads to the stairs to the dungeons. Nobody around can see me. Frigga has made me invisible. "You will be hidden from everybody but Loki," she said before she left me. "Just ensure that you do not make any noise, the spell will not hide that." I creep down the hallway, barefooted to try and hide as much noise as I can. The doors to the dungeons open before me as always, and I make my way past the guards, who take no notice of me. Good. But then I trip, the hem of my dress slightly too long now that I've taken off my shoes. As I fall there is a dull thud as I hit the floor, and I swear under my breath. Then I realise that the guards can hear me. I keep absolutely still, absolutely silent, while the guards look around the dungeons, but they must assume that it is merely one of the prisoners, because they shrug and resume their positions. I stand up carefully, not wanting to make any more noise. I tentatively sneak over to Loki's cell, and I know that he can see me, but he must know what I am doing, as he places a finger upon his lips, shushing me. I hear Frigga's voice in my head, as I did months before, "Just walk through the cell wall."  
'Are you sure?' I think, hoping she can hear me.  
"Trust me," I hear, and I do, so I close my eyes and walk through the clear wall. I momentarily feel a strange tingling sensation, but I pass through the wall with ease.

The second that I am inside the cell I run over to Loki and put my arms around him. The prospect of not seeing him again was more horrible than I first thought now that I am seeing him. I quickly glance around the cell and see that the walls appear to have glossed over. "What's going on?" I ask Loki.  
"To the guards and everyone else outside, it will appear as if I am still alone in here. No-one can see us or hear us, I assume that that will be helpful considering that you needed to come down here without the guards knowing." He grins.  
"Odin has forbidden me to see you, but I have something that I need to tell you." We both sit on the bed, and I begin to tell him of the books. He listens intently, asks me questions on why Odin told me, why Frigga instructed him, and why I thought that he needed to know. "Because you are entitled to your own history," I answer.  
"No, why do you care?" He presses. "Why do you care enough to defy the All-father and come down here to tell me?"  
I take a while to answer, too many things running through my head. But eventually I say, "You know why I care."

Loki smiles, and he pulls me closer to him, his hands around my waist, and he kisses me softly, his lips cool against mine. But all too soon he pulls away. I feel deprived, why would he stop? He leans in close again, our foreheads touching, and he whispers, "Thank you. Thank you for everything." And then he kisses me again, one hand moves to the back of my neck, the other snakes around my back, holding me close to him, as if he's terrified of me leaving him. But I have no intentions of ever leaving him. If I could stay with him forever, I would. We stay like that, locked together, for goodness knows how long. But one of us eventually has to break the embrace, and so I pull back, only slightly, so that his arms are still around me.  
"Loki, I don't want to go, but if I'm found out…"  
"I understand, my dear," replies Loki. "You have to go, but you will able to return, won't you?" He looks genuinely afraid that I will leave him alone.  
"Of course I will, tomorrow, I promise."  
I stand up to go, but Loki stands up too and catches my hand, stopping me from leaving. "Victoria, may I ask a favour of you?"  
"Of course, anything."  
"I know that I promised you that I would do everything I could to protect you, but what I need would involve something a little dangerous."  
"I'm sure I can cope."  
He hesitates, not sure of himself, but then he says, "I need you to find out where this book is. I do not think that it can be on Jötunheimr. I have been there, I would have found it."  
"Frigga must know where it is, or know who to ask. I'll find out somehow, I promise."  
Loki kisses me again, and then he says, "Thank you."  
"You're going to try and take the book, aren't you?" I ask.  
"Yes, I am," he replies simply. At least he isn't lying to me. "Will you help me? Your heritage is contained in it as well as my own."  
I lean up and kiss him gently. "I would help you even if the book had nothing to do with me. Yes, yes, I will help you."


End file.
